09.29.2014

Posted on September 29, 2014

I learned a new way to cook bacon, and it’s not nearly as messy as the stovetop. Today’s buzz features news from every region of the US plus featured stories on Detroit, e-cigarettes and urban agriculture – plus a story on a banana shaped sculpture.

Is There Room for Black People in the New Detroit? – On a sunny Tuesday earlier this month, I watched from the picture window of one of Detroit’s new and hip West Village eateries as children whizzed by on scooters, smiling couples walked their designer dogs and tattooed millennials chatted among themselves while smoking both electronic and tobacco-laced cigarettes.

Shift to elected officials a smart move in Detroit – Detroit City Council’s decision to keep Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr on through the city’s bankruptcy proceedings, while returning much of the governance of the city to elected officials, is a landmark day in the city’s history, and a positive indicator of its future direction.

City re-examines staffing levels – Periodically the question as to the necessity, or lack, of the mandated staffing levels of the Portsmouth Police Department and the Portsmouth Fire Department comes up, and Monday (Sept. 22) night’s Portsmouth City Council meeting was no exception.

Top-two primary: A solution or a problem? – By advancing the top two finishers in a primary — regardless of their party affiliation — Measure 90 either will prod candidates to appeal to the political center or reduce choices that Oregon voters will have in future general elections.

City of Columbia employees to get pay boost – Starting tomorrow, city of Columbia employees will take home slightly larger paychecks, the result of the Columbia City Council’s approval last week of legislation to give a 2 percent across-the-board raise to all employees and adjust pay rates for some positions to bring compensation closer to market rate.

Residents concerned about tree ‘butchering’ in Northwoods – Oaks, maples, magnolias, Bradford pears, river birches, crepe Myrtles and pines — and remnants of the less easily identified — now line Gum Branch and other Northwoods roads after crews cleared foliage near the powerlines in recent weeks.